earthbound14 said:
3 - Our son is Canadian, so I should not need to fill out any forms for additional dependents, right? I'm assuming this also should not require that I demonstrate that I have the funds to support him as he is perfectly within is 2 year old rights to be supported by the state.
You need to have all the required docs that prove your son is already Canadian (like a Canadian passport). Then he doesn't need to be included as a dependent in the application. If your son was born in Korea and is Canadian due to your own citizenship, it may take several months to get his actual citizenship confirmed.
4 - What's the deal with working while waiting. I read that if we apply from out of the country, my wife won't be able to work but if we apply withing the country she can...seems idiotic to me.
If you apply outland, then your wife can get a SIN and start working only when she is approved and officially "lands" in Canada as a PR. Until then, she is free to try and get a work visa or find some other way to work in Canada, but it will be independent of the PR application. During the outland process, you guys can enter/exit Canada as much as you want.
If you apply inland, then first thing is she must be living in Canada at the time the application is sent. Here you can get a work permit after the stage 1 (sponsor) approval, which is currently taking around 6 months. If applying inland, it is a big risk to travel back to Korea or outside Canada in general, since if she has any problems at the border and can't re-enter for any reason, the entire application is cancelled.
5 - Can we transfer our application to Canada once it has been started? We are going to be landing in Canada before the process is finished.
If you apply outland, then whenever you move to Canada you can change your home/mailing address via the CIC website. In this case when Manila finishes your application, they can send the COPR to your address in Canada instead of Korea, and your wife can officially "land" via flagpoling at the closest US land border.
6 - Will my wife be able to get health care in Canada prior to the visa being fully processed? We might be expecting a little one before the visa has arrived and it seems rather silly to be paying hospital bills when she is my wife and the child will be Canadian.
Every province is different. Some like Ontario say you must be a full PR AND wait 3 months after becoming a PR before any coverage is given. Others like Alberta allow spouses of residents to have healthcare even if they aren't PRs. If you have been living out of Canada for a while, even a Canadian citizen may also need to wait 3 months to get healthcare re-activated.
Unfortunately no private health insurance will cover pregnancy/birth costs if you are already pregnant while applying. So ensure beforehand what costs you should expect if she needs to give birth with no coverage (i've heard in the $2500 range for normal delivery). Note your new baby will be a Canadian citizen, so he/she will be covered immediately after the birth.
Also, have you done the medical exam yet?? If your wife is currently pregnant, it's not advisable to get the x-ray part of medicals done since it can harm the fetus. So you can do all the medicals in Korea EXCEPT for x-rays, and submit the application. However when your application gets to Manila, it will go "on hold" until the x-rays can be completed. From what you've said, this will most likely be while you guys are in Canada. Once you get the x-rays done and Manila receives the results, only then will your wife's application be completed.
7 - Does my wife still need to show she has round trip tickets to enter the country?
It's up to you. Sometimes they ask for this, sometime they don't. If you can buy a fully refundable ticket in advance, I would do that to be safe. Remember she will most likely only be getting a 6-month tourist visa at Canada immigration. You need to be able to show she will leave after the 6-months, if another tourist visa can't be obtained.
